


Take A Gulp And Take A Breath

by stormbourne



Series: monsterfucking on main [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, belated mermay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 10:38:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14872184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormbourne/pseuds/stormbourne
Summary: Dirk Strider, bodyguard of the heiress to the marine empire, desperately needs help from a sea witch. [A belated jamfic done for Mermay.]





	Take A Gulp And Take A Breath

The sea witches lived out in the cliffs, beyond the edge of the reefs and along the edge of the chasm. It was beyond where anybody was supposed to swim -- long past where the kelp stopped growing. The seaweed gave way to anemones, which gave way to coral, then barren rock, then nothing at all -- a long, precipitous drop into the deep, dark trenches below, where leviathans and anglerfish hunted mers like Dirk.

It was a risk he knew he had to take. 

He didn't take much. A pouch full of coins and shells. He wasn't sure what sea witches would demand as a price -- especially for such a specific request. He had a feeling that their normal prices wouldn't be enough. 

He lingered at the edge of the cliff, gazing down into the abyss, tail wavering. He thought, for an instant, that he saw the shadow of a sea serpent slide by, somewhere deep down in the canyons he could barely make out. He grasped his package to his chest, flexing the spines down his back, and considered, once again, if this was really the only option that he had.

He'd always been skeptical of stories about sea witches. They were old tales, designed to scare children into behaving themselves. A way to keep them from wandering off into the chasms and caverns by themselves, where sharks and sea serpents and worse could get them. Better to stay safe, away from the edge of the reef. 

But there were stories that were more worrisome. A princess of the kingdom, centuries ago, gone missing for a week only to reappear with a witch-woman as her consort. Then vanishing again into the chasms months later, this time never to return. Old stories of the witches staying in court and serving as royal seers and healers before they were exiled. Dirk had studied enough history to know that all of those accounts were true, and that they meant the witches were dangerous.

But again, he had no choice.

He took a deep breath of the water around him before pushing off with a kick of his tail, heading down into the cliffs below. There was a slight glow coming from within some of them, but Dirk ignored them, swimming deeper as the water darkened. If he understood the histories correctly, there was really only one witch that could help him, and she would be very deep in the chasm. 

If she was even still alive. 

There wasn't another option. He couldn't trust anybody in the court, except Jane and Roxy, and there was only so much either of them could do right now. He couldn't expect them to seek the witch. It was something he had to look after, and he had to do it on his own. He passed more glowing caverns. Bright blue, gold, silver, deep pink, blood-violet. He kept going, deeper and darker, trying not to jump at shadows and what he thought were growls. The sea was deep, dark, and strange here. It made shadows into monsters. Instead, he focused ahead, on a pinprick of bright green light from a cavern still deeper, and swam forward. 

The cavern was empty but for the glow when he started inside, which wasn't what he'd expected. He wasn't sure what he _had_ expected, though -- gems? Drapings? Architecture of some kind, or skulls of the witch's previous victims? Still, the lack of features was as unnerving as anything else, and he tried not to think too deeply about it, surrounded by green light.

"Hello?" he called at last, when it seemed like the tunnel would never end. "Is anybody there?"

The green light went out.

He spun in a quick, tight circle, but it was no use. The sea outside the cavern was so dark that he couldn't see any light from the entrance, and he'd grown so used to the green light that now everything was pitch-black. He tried to contain his panic. "My name is Dirk," he said, "of House Strider, valets and guardians of the royal family. I've come here seeking the sea witch who calls herself Jade." He breathed in. "I need her help," he said. "I want to strike a deal." 

The light rekindled, but -- softer. When Dirk looked around this time, he could see it blossoming from small patches of algae and coral growing against the walls and ceiling. 

"You're a bit late, I'm afraid, pally-o," a distinctly male voice said from somewhere further down in the cave. Dirk turned toward the source of the voice, clutching his bundle and swimming a bit further forward. 

The tunnel only stretched a little bit further, it turned out. It hollowed out into a cavern, full of shelves carved into the stone. Here, there _were_ skulls -- largely ones from fish, a few from dolphins and sharks. Against the far awall, there were long, pointed teeth from what looked like a sea serpent. Dirk shrank back, but he did take in the sight before him long enough to see that none of the skulls seemed to be mer. 

There _was_ a mer lingering in the middle of the cavern, but it wasn't the sea witch he'd expected. Instead, it was a man with a long, deep green tail, dotted with spots of lighter green bioluminescence -- the same color as the lights in the cave. The spots ran up his sides, across his back, over his shoulders in distinct patterns, glowing with a soft pulse against his dark upper skin. Dirk had an instant to wonder if it was some sort of hypnotic pattern before he dismissed the thought and swam forward. It didn't matter.

"Maybe you can help me in her stead," he said. "I'm the heiress' bodyguard. There's been three attempts on her life in the past month. I need you to -- "

"Jade isn't here," the mer said. He was floating in front of what appeared to be some sort of cauldron, measuring out handfuls of shells and gems. Dirk glanced into the cauldron, watching sparks and ink black liquid around inside, and tried not to think too hard about the physics of it. It was magic.

"Yes, I heard you," Dirk said. "I don't really care who helps me, as long as they're capable of doing it. Jane's life is in danger, and this is the only thing I could come up with to guarantee it." When the mer didn't say anything, he plowed forward on his own. "Can you just make -- some kind of, I don't know, protection charm or something? Safeguard her life."

Finally, the other mer turned around. He had dark brown hair, drifting in the current, dark, emerald-green eyes, and a handsome face. Dirk was fairly sure he imagined it, but it seemed his eyes were aglow with the same sort of light that suffused the rest of the cave. There were chains of shells and beads around his wrists and his neck, with one particularly decorated chain weighed down with a spiral of green stone.

"Jade isn't--" the man said again, but then paused. "Jane, you said. She's in danger? You know her?"

" _You_ know Jane?" Dirk countered. "How would a sea witch--" 

"I wasn't always a sea witch, you know!" the man countered, and swam past Dirk to one of the shelves, pushing skulls aside to gather some bottles into his arms. Back down he went, opening one bottle and whispering something under his breath. Instead of diffusing through the water, the liquid inside slid, syrupy, down into the cauldron. He repeated the process with another bottle. "Before Gran took me in," he said, the crystal around his neck glittering as he worked, "Jane and I were best of friends, you know! Before she had to do all her duty and nonsense. Probably long before you even met her!" With his mouth pinched to one side, he glanced at Dirk. "House Strider or no," he added. 

That was fair enough. Dirk decided not to argue. "So you're not really a sea witch, then," he said, assuaged by the knowledge that maybe his visions of anglerfish mer with long, jagged teeth and blank white eyes were correct, after all.

"Oh, no," the mer said. He grinned at Dirk, and for a blink, Dirk could have sworn that his teeth were pointed. Then, as quickly as he'd seen it, it was gone again. "I'm absolutely a sea witch, Mister Strider. I learned all Jade's tricks. She was my gran, after all." And then, the air of danger was gone, and he blinked at Dirk as guilelessly as a seal. "Jane's in danger, you said. Tell me everything." 

"There isn't much more to tell than I already have," Dirk said, as the witch went back to pouring and stirring and whispering what Dirk supposed were magic words. "We think someone's sending assassins. They've tried poisoning her food. I've thwarted one attempt at an ambush, and my brother's been there for another. One of these days, they're going to figure out a time to strike when she's by herself, and we can't take the chance they'll succeed."

The witch looked up, gazing at him with those green, green eyes.

" _I_ can't take that chance," Dirk amended.

"Well," the witch said. "It's just the berries to know that Jane got people looking after her once I was spirited away. Gran always said it'd be too dangerous for me to keep on --" He interrupted himself with a shake of his head, and then, "I can certainly cook up something to help her if you'd like, but I'm actually going to need a few bits from you."

"Yes," Dirk said, and held out his bundle. The mer looked at it like it would grow fangs and didn't so much as extend a hand. "There's gold in there," Dirk said. "Some shells. If you need more than that, I can return later with some. Whatever you need."

The mer stared at the bundle for another second, then at Dirk, and then threw back his head and laughed. 

"This isn't fuckin' funny!" Dirk snapped, still holding out the bundle. "Are you going to help me or not?" 

The merman snorted aloud, then waved a hand, still snickering. "No, no, I don't want your money," he said. "What would I do with money? I'm a witch! I can't exactly kip on down to market whenever I need a cup of chum, now, can I? I hunt my food, Strider! I make my peaceful little life down here where there's nothing to spend dosh on!" Then that danger flickered back into his expression, and he leveled those jewel-green eyes at Dirk. "Besides, I'm sure you've read that us witches have use for lots of things, but not a single one of those things is money."

That was true. He'd wanted to hope otherwise. He slipped the pack back over his shoulder, and folded his arms. "What is it you want from me, then?" 

"Those."

The witch pointed at Dirk. It took Dirk a long minute to realize that the witch wasn't actually pointing at him, but rather at the long spines that ran down his back and tail, all the way to the fin. 

"They're the same as lionfish, aren't they?" the witch asked. "You've no idea what a pain it is to try and snag a lionfish, but there's so many spells that I need venom for! I bet you don't even drain them regularly. What would a royal guardsman have to do with his venom?"

"Royal bodyguard," Dirk corrected, but he floated back a bit from the sea witch. His spines shuddered reflexively. "What sort of spells would you need my venom for?"

"Lionfish venom," the witch corrected, "and all kinds! Antidotes, curses, hexes, future vision, revenge spells, tricks and trinkets for good health …" He stood back, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Protection charms," he added, and Dirk caught the way his eyes slid over. His mouth curled a little bit upward. The cauldron, squarely between them, churned. 

Dirk thought about Jane's face, violet blood clouding in the water around them as Dirk swam with her back to safety, away from the ambush. He thought about Dave's accounting of the same sort of attack, and Roxy's word from the city that even worse was planned. He wasn't sure he could handle worse. Moreover, he didn't know what the kingdom would do if anything happened to Jane. 

He wasn't sure what _he_ would do. 

"Fine," he found himself saying. "You have a deal. Some of my venom for a charm to protect Jane." 

The witch grinned as widely as a shark. He swam over to where Dirk stood near the cauldron, extending his hand over it. "Shall we shake on it, then?" he chirped.

Dirk had to swallow every tale his nursemaids had ever told him and every fairy story he'd ever read. Never look a sea witch in the eyes -- he'd done that. Never give them your name. He'd done that as well. And most of all, never make a deal. Never shake hands. Never agree to give them what they ask for.

He didn't have a choice. Not for Jane's sake. 

"We have a deal," he agreed, and reached out to shake the witch's hand.

The second their hands touched, violent blue light erupted from the cauldron, and the witch's smile somehow widened even more. That inky black water from within the cauldron billowed up around them. The walls of the cave, the shelves full of skulls, Dirk couldn't see any of it through the thick, dark water. All he could see was the witch, and their clasped hands.

"This might seem unpleasant at first," the witch said, "but I promise, I'll do my best to make it good for you." When Dirk tried to release his hand and pull back, the witch's grasp tightened. "I'm Jake, by the way," he said. "It's very nice to meet you, mister Strider." 

Tendrils sprung out of the cauldron and wrapped around Dirk's wrist. Only then did Jake release his hand, as the tendrils crawled up Dirk's arm like a tangle of seaweed. But even then, the darkness was blinding. The moment Jake released Dirk, he vanished into the ink again as Dirk tried -- to no avail -- to shake off the thick, spiralling thing coiling up and over his arm. Something darted out of the darkness, grabbing his other arm, and when he whirled toward it, it was just the witch again.

"Let's get this out of the way, shall we?" Jake said, tugging the bundle off his shoulder and letting it drop. It, too, vanished into the smoke. Then he smiled, cheekily, as he tugged that arm across Dirk's torso. In an instant, he'd reached around and snagged the wrist that had the tendril circling it. By the time Dirk realized what he was doing, it was too late -- Jake had pulled his wrists together in front of him. The tendril, at once, circled the other wrist as well and bound the two together. And the instant they were bound, the tendril stopped moving, solid as stone and glossy as crystal. He could hear Jake whispering again, nonsense magical words. He struggled, yanking at his wrists, tugging his shoulders, but nothing would give way.

"Oh, hush," the witch said. "This is going to be nice and easy, now, but only if you stop putting up a fight! I can't exactly have you putting up a fuss while I'm busy with your spines, now, can I? Calm down, big six. It's all going to be gravy, you'll see!" 

The water clouded as Jake vanished into it again. Dirk squirmed against the bonds, but he couldn't move much without risking overbalancing and spinning aimlessly through the water. He had always taken for granted how much he used his arms to maneuver. His tail swished back and forth, attempting to keep him upright. He half expected that Jake had left him there to rot. Maybe Jake was actually the one behind the assassins -- maybe the sea witches were getting their revenge on the royal family. Maybe Jake was off to try and kill Jane on his own now, having incapacitated her bodyguard. 

Then he felt fingers pressing at the base of one of his spines, the small one between his shoulderblades. 

Immediately, he tensed. The spines all shivered, but he heard Jake click his tongue and whisper something else. The binding around Dirk's wrists tightened imperceptibly for a moment. "Relax," Jake said, louder. "I did say I'd do my best to make it good for you, now, didn't I? Calm down and let me do my work, Mister Strider. Don't worry your head a bit about Jane. I'm sure she's just fine."

He tried to relax. It was easier said than done. Despite his attempt to calm himself down, his spines quivered, seeking an attacker to strike against. He hadn't worn armor, but he thought that maybe that made it worse -- his instincts told him he was less protected, and so his body sought to make up the difference. He closed his eyes, tried to stop thinking so much about it, and let water and inky liquid slide in and out of his gills.

The witch's thumbs slid over the spine, coaxing upward from the base, drawing out the venom. Dirk could feel the poison slide out of it, slow as molasses, heavy and barely there. And this was only one of his smaller spines. He felt, this time, his whole body shiver. The dark water was thick and heavy in his lungs, and the more he breathed it in, the more he detected a faint, strange scent and taste to it. Like spices, or the flowers in the royal garden, or …

The thumbs tightened, starting again at the base of the single spine. Then up, and down again. Dirk felt the spine begin to relax slightly as the witch coaxed more and more of the poison from him. The others, though, stayed tense.

For another minute, at least. 

Then the taste and the scent of the clouded water began to go to Dirk's head. He flexed his fingers again against his bonds instinctively, but his eyelids fluttered as dizziness began to overcome him. His tail darted to one side, then to the other, straining to keep him aloft as his head started to loll. When Jake's fingers started on the next, longer spine, Dirk felt the others begin to relax.

"That's the ticket," the witch said. "Here we go. We've only just begun and you're already doing fabulously. See, now, I told you that it wouldn't be at all hard." 

Those thumbs stroked up, slowly, pinching the second spine between them. Dirk felt a drop of venom form on the tip, slide down the length of the bone, and then … it was gone. He assumed the witch was collecting it, somehow, but he couldn't turn far enough to see how and he didn't especially have any desire to. He was dizzy and weak and limp. Part of him wondered if his spines were attempting to ward off some sort of attacker, but it was difficult to think about it too hard. He let the thought wash away like the tide. 

"There we are," the witch cooed. "Number two, now, there's, let's see … three, four … ten others to go after this one. I don't know if I'll need them all, but let's not make any plans to cut and run early, eh?" 

His thumbs kept working. Heat slid up the barb and into Dirk's own spine, sliding down like warm nectar. He forced his eyes open, but he might as well have kept them shut. The water was full of that dark liquid, black as squid ink. Somewhere, filtering through the blackness, were spots and beams of that strange green light, but it was muted and barely visible. He let his eyes slip shut again as the witch kept working each spike, stinger to base, all along the shaft, up and down in a way that was almost hypnotic. 

"There you go, just like that." 

The witch's voice barely reached him. He swallowed hard and tried not to think about what the witch would use the venom for. It was surprisingly easy to just … let the thought slide out of his fingers like seafloor sand. 

Dirk wasn't sure if the witch -- Jake -- started moving faster or if time just stretched and distorted in the inky, cloudy darkness of the cavern. He thought, distantly and dizzily, about the skulls and leviathan teeth along the walls, about the trinkets, about his bag of gold and baubles, and about Jane. Would he be going home to her after all of this?

"Of course you will be," Jake said.

"I didn't mean to say that aloud," Dirk said.

The witch laughed. It was a delightful sound, like pealing bells, like dolphins chattering, like joyful whalesong. Dirk let it ring through him, opening his eyes again. The water around him was still dark, but there was more light now, slightly dancing between the spirals of darkness. 

"I know I'm a dratted terrible thing, aren't I?" Jake asked. "But I swear on my gran's bones that you'll get home safely to Jane. I might not have spoken to her in years, but she was my closest dame before Gran took me in." Dirk was startled when a sheen of green slid around in the blackness before him. He let his eyes slide open a little further, only to realize the pressure on his spines had faded. The witch laced his fingers through Dirk's, spots of blue and green and bright, golden yellow dancing along his skin in dazzling patterns. "I wouldn't dare hurt her," he promised. Dirk flexed his fingers around Jake's, relieved to find he still had feeling in his hands. "Or you, to be honest," the witch said, flashed that same wide, dangerous smile, and then released Dirk and vanished into the inky waters again. 

A moment later, his thumbs were back, pressing into the base of the next of Dirk's barbs.

The pressure was startling. Dirk had to choke down a moan that even he hadn't expected. He must not have been entirely successful, though, because the thumbs paused against the ridged fins of his back.

"Oh," said the witch. "That's a fine how-do-you-do, isn't it?"

"Just keep going," Dirk mumbled. He took deep breaths through his gills, feeling the thick, inky water trickle through. There was something in that inkiness that was keeping him pliant, he was sure. But there wasn't much he could do against it. If the witch wanted him relaxed and still for this -- extraction -- then Dirk would put up with it. He had to. It was fine.

"Well," the witch said. There was a strange, hesitant note in his voice now, which was quite different from the confident, devil-may-care swagger he'd had since Dirk had entered his cavern. "Well, I mean, if this is uncomfortable -- "

"It's fine," Dirk interrupted. "You said you'd make it as comfortable as you could for me. And that's what you're doing. Just -- just keep going. We'll -- I'll -- I'll deal with it. Later. It's fine." 

The witch made another noise of hesitation, but within another moment, Dirk felt his thumbs begin stroking and pinching upward again. Dirk shivered, managing to raise his cuffed hands to press one palm against his mouth. He clenched his eyes tightly shut, fins fluttering over his gills, feeling his spines flex. 

"Sorry about this," the witch said. He sounded genuinely apologetic. "I didn't -- that is, I haven't dealt with mers like you before, so I didn't -- " 

"I haven't exactly had anybody do this for me before," Dirk said. The words came out muffled and almost unintelligible from behind his hand. "It's not like I would have agreed to this if I -- "

He had to bite down on his thumb to keep from crying out as Jake's fingers moved down to his next barb and stroked, tightly and harshly, up. Somehow, the quickness of the motion made it even more intense. 

Now he was _sure_ Jake was moving faster. He couldn't tell if it was out of nerves and embarrassment over Dirk's reactions, or if his reasoning was based in something else entirely. There was an almost merciless pace to the way he pinched and coaxed the venom out of the shaft of each spine, moving with a sort of single-minded focus. Dirk bit his thumb again, more than once, but had to be careful not to pierce his own skin. He could feel the other spines, the one Jake wasn't working on, shivering with pleasure. He could feel more heat running up his chest, his neck, into his brain. And, as well, down, through his tail, and -- 

He squirmed and tried to coax his thoughts elsewhere. The last thing he needed was for the witch to notice that this had gotten even more sexual than it had been a moment ago. The witch absolutely didn't need to notice Dirk's slit parting, his cock beginning to emerge. 

"Did you say something?" the witch asked. 

"God, I hope not," Dirk said.

The witch hummed in acknowledgment and moved onto the next spine, moving faster still. Dirk swallowed another moan, attempting to choke down his arousal. He thought about Roxy, about her flirting with him for years. He thought about the way Jane's food taster had fallen, tail spasming, clutching her throat. He thought about yanking Jane back to safety, her arm in his, sword in his free hand. But it was all useless. Dirk couldn't be sure if it was the dark, strangely-scented water, or the continued ministations of Jake behind him, or some combination of those things, but heat continued to flood through his bloodstream. His sheath continued to open itself, sensitivity prickling as his cock began to emerge. And Jake's fingers kept moving, pressing tight and moving up. Back to the base. Pressing tight. Dirk's mind ran rampant as he imagined the witch's dextrous fingers on his dick, instead. Stroking up. Back to the base. Twisting -- 

Jake switched to the next spine. Dirk shouted against his hand. 

"Really, mighty and awful sorry about this," the witch said. "We're halfway done. If you'd like we can stop for now and maybe come back and finish up later? Would that be better?" His hands hesitated. Dirk wanted to scream. 

"No," he said, instead of _no just fucking do it I'd rather not fall apart in front of you twice._ "No, just -- finish it, I need that protection charm or whatever and I need it yesterday, would you just --" He bit down on his own finger to shut himself up. He didn't bite deep enough to draw blood, but he knew he'd bruise later.

"Are you one-hundred percent sure on that, pal?" the witch asked. His hands still weren't moving. Dirk felt his spines shiver. 

"Would you please just get it over with?"

Dirk was aware he sounded pathetic. The witch let out a grunt of agreement that Dirk prayed wasn't dipped in offense, and then went back to work.

But now, he was going slower. 

What was this, exactly? Dirk wondered. Was the witch playing games with him? Was Jake looking for some specific kind of response? Did he expect Dirk to surrender royal secrets or sign his soul over if Jake would just fucking get on with it already?

"Would you quit your friggin' griping?" the witch said, thumbs pressing tighter.

"I didn't mean to say any of that aloud."

"Yeah, I gathered! The ink messes around with people's heads a bit, but I've got to say, Mister Strider, I've never seen anyone as well and messed with as you!" The witch kept working, pinching the spine's tip between his fingers. Then back to the base and all the way up, pressing the whole way. "How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not interested in making things hard for Jane! Do you just spend all your time worrying about her? I think maybe you've got to get a different hobby!"

"Her life is in danger," Dirk replied. He thrashed his tail, screwing up his face as Jake again reached the tip of one barb and started on the next one. 

"I mean even when it's not! Are you her bodyguard or her babysitter? No wonder she used to complain about her guards, when we were sprats." 

Dirk tried to straighten his spine. Jake let out a grunt a second later, as Dirk felt something graze against the quill Jake had just finished with. "It's my fuckin' job," Dirk said, "to make sure she's safe. And you're damn lucky you just got all the venom out of that, or --"

"Or," the witch interrupted, "you'd be in a fine rock-and-hard-place situation, given that you need my magic for that charm of yours! You mind your manners, mister, and I'll stop sassing, but I do think you're being a bit of a hovering Hannah."

"A hovering Hannah isn't even a thing," Dirk said, twisting to try and see what Jake was doing. He managed to catch a glimpse of the witch's green eyes, but then the dark water clouded between them again and he gave up. "Would you just," he said, and lowered his hands to try and cover his sheath, instead, "hurry it up. Please."

He didn't think it was possible for Jake to move slower. What had been an almost meandering pace moments ago became outright torturous as Jake took his time leeching the venom from that spine. Up, and down, and up, and down -- This time, Dirk bit his lip as Jake started on the next spike. He let his hips rock forward, hooking his thumbs into his sheath and letting out a deep sigh of relief. 

"Stop that," Jake said. 

Immediately, Dirk yanked his thumbs away from his emerging dick, feeling himself flush. "I didn't," he said, then, "how can you sound so fuckin' calm about that?"

"It happens. That's what I meant by the ink messing with people." If anything, Jake sounded cranky. "But it's going to make my work harder and probably a lot more uncomfortable for you, too. It's a whole lot less pleasant to do what I need to when your nerves are all overstretched and undone like a loose spring! It starts to friggin' hurt." His fingers skated up and down the barb, then massaged the base. Dirk choked in water, shutting his eyes, feeling his whole face clench.

"You do this often?" he asked. He hoped he sounded more sarcastic than desperate, even though he was pretty sure that was a longshot.

"Not with spines like yours, but close enough," Jake said. There was a pause where Dirk felt what seemed like every muscle in his body shiver, all the way to the tip of his tail. He pressed his teeth tightly together, feeling the points of his canines press against his lower lip. "Never with such a looker, though," the witch finally continued.

"Don't try to flirt with me."

"Oh, I'll do more than that. Hands up. I don't want you getting distracted."

Dirk started to raise his hands, but then hesitated. "Why should I be so sure," he started.

"Strider, by gum, I've had it with your insistence that I'm out to hurt you and all you stand for when I've done nothing but be helpful! I'm doing this for your benefit, you know! Now, _hands up._ "

Immediately, the restraint on Dirk's wrists jerked upward until he was suspended like a fish from a hook. He yanked against it, but that, too, made him feel like a bass on the line. He grimaced, lips pulling back, tail thrashing.

"No, I don't think so, that's not going to be feasible, either," Jake said. "Straighten out before I make you, come on now." 

Dirk didn't exactly want to be strung out any further than he already was, so he did his best to still. His tail went from thrashing to the same soft waving it had been doing before, trying to keep him upright. Then, his instincts seemed to realize even that wasn't necessary, and his tail went limp.

"Much better," the witch said. "Let's get down to brass tacks." 

He moved on. Now there was almost a caress to his movements. His fingers trailed after his thumbs, stroking over the curves of each spine, the light bone and the thin tissue and massaging the venom sacs at the base of each barb. Dirk bit down on his own lip to keep from crying out. This time, he did feel himself drawing blood. Slight clouds of violet blood began to trail through the water, before fading into the dark ink around the two of them. 

"You can make noise if you want." Jake's voice was low, now, almost purring. Pulses of gentle green light faded in and out of the dark clouds around them. "I really don't mind."

He moved on again. This time, his motion was demanding. He pressed hard on the spine, drove his thumbs into the muscle and venom sacs at the base, more pulling upward than massaging. The force of it, compared with the caution and gentility of the Jake's actions on the previous spine, made Dirk's jaw drop open as he let out a sharp, startled cry.

"Much better," the witch said. "Only a few left, now, and then you can be on your way. This isn't so bad, is it? You can at least admit to that, Strider."

"I'd admit to it," Dirk said, his voice hoarse as he tried to choke down another moan as Jake pinched the base of the barb he was working on, "if you weren't a fucking psycho who was going to leave me with the worst blue balls --" He did cut himself off as Jake started on another spine, somehow even rougher with this one than with the last. Now he was working it with his whole hand, clenched into a fist around the bone, jerking it upward like --

"Fuck!" Dirk hissed. 

"Eventually," the witch said, and moved on. 

It continued like that. Each time, Jake got rougher and his grip got tighter, his fingers finding the sensitive spots below and beside each spine, pressing into the bones where the tendons were tightest, massaging pressure out of places Dirk hadn't known were capable of being tense. His spine went slack and his tail barely stirred, fingers flexing in his restraints, his cock now fully at attention and pulsing slightly with every wave of pleasure Jake sent washing over him. He closed his eyes -- it wasn't like it mattered, with the cave dark around them and only briefly lighting from Jake's green bioluminescent glow. He let his mouth hang open, still straining not to groan, but letting his muscles relax as his gills, instead, worked overtime. Jake finished with one barb, moved onto the next. Finished one, moved onto the next. Finished one -- 

"There we go," he said, voice soft. "All done, right as rain. I can have that charm ready for you in no time flat." 

Huh? Dirk's eyes drifted back open. The inky, dark water around them was beginning to settle down into the silt on the cave floor, The walls were visible again, though the cavern was dark, still -- but now, at least, Dirk could see Jake's green light refracting off the walls where it hit what seemed to be crystal. Dirk's arms were still strung upward, the restraint not wavering so much as a bit, but Jake's insistent pressure on his back and spines had vanished completely. He twisted, tail lashing as he tried to glance over his shoulder, or pull himself to the side. He couldn't manage it. Between the restraint on his wrists and the looseness of his muscles, it was like trying to swim against a hard current. 

He turned forward again and started as Jake, alight all down his sides, swam around from behind him. He didn't seem to pay Dirk any attention, tail circling the cauldron before him as he took a bottle -- probably full of Dirk's venom, he hoped -- and began pouring a few drops onto the spiral of green stone around his neck. He pulled the stone off his neck and threw it down into the cauldron, which glowed with a sudden burst of emerald light.

"You certainly gave me just what I needed," the witch said. Dirk squirmed, trying again to hide his cock, even though he knew it was probably much too late. Jake had probably seen it in its full, uncensored glory. And Dirk still couldn't fucking free his hands to cover himself, or even at least get himself off. The witch stoppered the bottle with a mutter of magic, placing it on one of the rock shelves, the bottle apparently heavy enough to anchor itself. The cauldron, by now, had faded to a dull glow, and Jake reached down into it to pull out the spiral pendant again.

When Jake turned back to him, the charm in his hands, there was a strange expression on his face. "So," he said, "I suppose this is going to be it, but I'd like to give you one last thing before you go."

"Are you going to let me free?"

"Jeepers creepers, would you cool your jets? No point in being in such an all-fired hurry." Jake, accordingly, seemed to take his time in picking up Dirk's forgotten pack. He made a show of holding out the crystal so Dirk could see it before he tucked it into the pouch, then once again showed Dirk his empty hands. "Of course I'm going to let you go. Just -- not yet."

He dropped the bag and swam close. Instinctively, Dirk tried to rear back, but there wasn't much he could do. His tail swished and his spines flexed, but a lot of use those were, milked of their venom as they had been, and the restraint still held him in place. Jake's green, green eyes darted up to Dirk's face, and then down. He placed two hands, limned with green light, on either side of Dirk's waist, leaned in, and opened his mouth. 

For an instant that seemed to stretch into an eternity, Dirk was terrified that this was going to be it -- the witch was going to eat him, or curse him, or something that was somehow even worse than that. But then Jake instead took Dirk's cock into his mouth, his tongue sliding around it as cleverly as an eel, and Dirk exhaled all at once from his mouth and gills alike.

He wasn't sure if the witch had ever done _this_ before or not, but it was obviously inappropriate to ask. His fingers flexed against his restraints as Jake gazed up at him, light spots on his cheeks flickering in and out in a pattern that seemed to outline the shape of his skull. He slid one of his hands across Dirk's scales, tracing the white and orange patterns, before sliding them slowly into Dirk's sheath, just straying the side of his cock. His fingers caressed the sensitive skin within, the smooth and soft skin at the base of Dirk's dick which rarely -- if ever -- got attention, even from Dirk himself, and pushed himself just a little bit further down on Dirk's cock. Dirk could feel the slight pinpricks of Jake's teeth against his dick; just enough to tease, not enough to hurt. He gave an almost forceful jerk of his arms, but all it served to do was haul him upward, pushing himself further into Jake's mouth.

Jake made a face, pulling back and sputtering. "All right, all right," he said. "Message received!" He pointed at the restraints on Dirk's wrists, then snapped. At once, Dirk's arms swung downward, freed without so much as an ache of his muscles. The restraint itself, though, remained in place around his wrists, keeping them bound tightly together.

At once, Jake went back to work. He slid his mouth back onto Dirk, his own long green tail stirring up some of that inky cloud around them again as he worked. Thankfully, Dirk sank fingers into Jake's hair and held tight. Jake's tail flickered, then coiled and pushed, and in another moment Dirk found himself pinned against the cavern wall while the witch took his time pulling Dirk apart one piece at a time. Dirk's tail curled as he tried to push further into that pleasant heat, only for Jake to push his hips firmly back against the wall. 

Dirk had been dangling on the edge of pleasure for what felt like an eternity, as Jake had worked over his spines, and now he was finally being granted some shade of relief. He let his head loll, fins twitching, gills fluttering as he tried -- and failed -- to breathe even. His mouth hung open, now, and he didn't stop himself from moaning anymore. Now that felt like just as much part of the pleasure as Jake's tongue around him, as Jake's fingers pressing into his sheath.

As if knowing he could barely take anymore, Jake slid his spare hand up over the curve where Dirk's tail met his waist, and then around to the back. There, his fingers found the base of one of Dirk's longest spines, and drove in. Dirk threw back his head, moaning the loudest and longest yet, as heat coiled in his stomach. Jake's fingers didn't stop moving -- against his spine, deep inside Dirk's sheath. His tongue didn't stop moving, either, and soon enough he was taking in a little bit more of Dirk, and then a little more. Each time, he'd carefully lave Dirk's cock where he hadn't yet reached before returning attention to the head of his dick, and then back down again. It was an intoxifying rhythm, and as Jake began to move faster, so too did his fingers. 

"Really something, what you're giving me here," Dirk managed to gasp in between moans. Jake, of course, didn't say anything, but there was a strange and proud gleam in his vivid eyes as he kept up his work. Dirk's fingers flexed and his tail twitched. He was certain that if his spines hadn't been pressed against the wall, they'd all be standing up as though he was facing a shark. "What about," he choked, "what about -- you?"

Jake just gazed up at him and drove the fingers of his hand against the base of the barb again, and curled his fingers inside Dirk's sheath again, and took Dirk just a little bit deeper. And sucked.

It was too much. Dirk suspected that was part of the point. There was no room to protest, or argue, or ask any kind of questions, when Jake was sucking him like that. He let out another deep moan, fists clenching tight in Jake's hair, and again thrusted his hips upward. This time, Jake let him at first, but once he'd pushed in, held him there, tight and close, fingers still massaging at the spine at the small of his back and his hand now pushing to that sensitive spot where the skin of his sheath met the skin of his dick. He sucked harder and let his tongue circle Dirk's dick and seemed to move with the thrashing of Dirk's tail like it was a current he had been riding since he was born. His tail curled and uncurled, twining almost lazily, and his eyes slid shut as he sucked one more time at Dirk, pressing and curling his fingers at the exact same time. 

Dirk strained away from the edge, but he'd been too close to it for too long. His fingers clenched, his hips jerked, and he came into Jake's mouth. He couldn't have pulled away even if he'd wanted to, with Jake's hand firm on his back, and he had a feeling Jake wouldn't even have wanted him to. He felt the fins over his gills fluttering with the force of his orgasm, the fins at the side of his tail doing the same. His eyelids fluttered shut and, distantly, he could feel Jake swallow. 

A finger pressed between his wrists a moment later, and he heard a snap. His hands drifted apart, and it took Dirk a long minute to realize what that met. He opened his eyes again, examining his wrists, but the restraint hadn't left so much as a mark. The only reminder of what had just happened was the bruise where he'd bitten his finger, purple and dark blue against his skin. Even his cock was withdrawing back into its sheath. He felt spent and drained and utterly satisfied. 

The witch had swam away and was examining the shelves, picking up and putting down and picking up the bottle of Dirk's venom again. He snuck a glance over his shoulder, only to hurriedly glance away when he met Dirk's eyes. Dirk swam down to pick up his pack, and then hesitated to just leave.

"Thank you," he said. Jake glanced at him again, then ducked his head. Dirk was almost certain he'd seen a purple flush spreading over Jake's face, but maybe he was imagining it because of his own. 

"Tell Jane I said howdy, won't you?" the witch said as he turned back to the shelves and busied himself -- or pretended to -- with tidying the collection of miscellany against his wall. "Thanks for the venom. And I'm glad I could help." 

That was it, Dirk supposed. He slung his pack over his shoulder before opening it to fish out that crystal, the spiral of green stone that might as well have been a decorative rock and nothing else -- but when he looked closely at it, it seemed to glow slightly with a barely-perceptible green aura. He glanced up again, letting the charm fall back into his bag, but Jake appeared to have lost all interest in him. His luminescent spots had gone dark, and he was more of a shadow among the soft greens of the cavern than anything else.

Dirk cleared his throat.

"I'll -- I'll come back," he said.

There was a long moment of silence between the two of them before Jake turned his upper body to face Dirk. The spots along his face and down his ribs began, faintly, to glow again.

"You will?" he asked.

"Yeah," Dirk said. "Yeah, I -- I imagine you'll need more venom, at some point. And I probably owe you more than just what you got today, given that you're saving Jane's life."

Jake didn't say anything, but now Dirk could see that he was, indeed, faintly violet. He straightened up and grinned so widely that it might have illuminated the whole cave, if it could have. 

"Well, then, Strider," he said, and clapped his hands together, "I suppose you're right about that, aren't you?"

Dirk couldn't help but let his own lips twitch upward as well. 

"Yeah," he said. "I suppose I am."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [@stormsbourne!](http://stormsbourne.tumblr.com)


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